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The Eye has it, twice

'NCIS,' 'Mentalist' fuel wins in demo, viewers

In the second week of the broadcast season, CBS seized the ratings high thanks to an across-the-board lineup of competitive performers.

CBS won the week in the adult demo and total viewers, placing first among adults 18-49 on four nights and landing three shows in the top 10. The network overthrew last week's winner ABC, whose top-rated "Grey's Anatomy" was pre-empted Thursday by the vice presidential debate. CBS has yet to debut its highest-rated show, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," which returns Thursday opposite "Grey's."

CBS (averaging 11 million viewers and 3.1 rating/9 share in the key adults 18-49 demographic) was led by a slightly down "Two and a Half Men" (13.6 million, 4.7/11) and a steady "Survivor: Gabon" (13.1 million, 4.5/12), but the most compelling data came from the network's Tuesday and Saturday lineups. Tuesday's "NCIS" (17.5 million, 3.5/10) was the most-watched show of the week despite going against Fox's "House" (13 million, 5.4/15), while promising series "The Mentalist" (15.5 million, 3.6/9) climbed a notch from its season premiere.

But CBS stumbled Friday with the premiere of "The Ex List" (6.8 million, 2.0/6), down from the debut of "Moonlight" in the slot last year. The network still won the night but showed some weakness on what traditionally has been a strong evening for the network.

ABC and NBC tied for second, with ABC led by "Desperate Housewives" (15.7 million, 5.8/13), which ranked as television's highest-rated show. ABC's headlines were dominated by the premieres of "Pushing Daisies" (6.3 million, 2.0/6), "Private Practice" (8.2 million, 3.3/8) and "Dirty Sexy Money" (7 million, 2.4/7) returning significantly lower after having been off the air since December.